A Clothes horse’s Closet

I have been totally obsessed with my recent admitted student status. I even started this pinterest board to chronicle everything cool I find. Turns out there are a lot of neat tricks out there and so many beautiful clothes…

It has kind of spurred on a cleaning binge and those never happen! I feel sure enough to purge things and I am great need of some purging so I can go buy some new clothes. I am not a hoarder per say but I do like things, a lot of things. Clothes are no exceptions, and I have been known to find a good bargain or two or three. I know there is no before picture but it was badddddddd. Partially because I did not want to organize things because that meant I was staying. Now that I have plans and a definite time limit until I leave, I feel better about organizing things. Weird? It makes sense in my head.

I am really into organizing my clothes. I love orderly clothes. I can see my options and better decide what to wear. There are three parts to my organization:

1) Put like things next to like. Skirts, Dresses, Fancy Dresses, Short sleeve shirts, long sleeve shirts. Everything must have its place!

2) Like hangers. I prefer these slim velvet ones because I can fit more clothes in one area. My roommate in college was amazed by how much clothing I fit into my tiny closet! Whatever you do NO WIRE HANGERS.

3) Color code. Start with black, then gray, ROYGBIV then brown then white. Seriously color coding makes everything better.  

Have any more tips for closet organization? I am always in search of more tricks!

How to: Organize under the sink

 
      Ever have those days where you just can't concentrate till you get something else done? Yesterday was one of those days for me, I knew I had work to do yet I could not do it until I had bought a canvas for another project and organized my sink cabinet. Two projects that have no time constraints yet yesterday my brain decided they needed to be done then and there. 



     My under the sink cabinet has been a mess and last weekend when I had to get a band-aid out while my boyfriend was visiting and was desperately trying to hide the mess while barely opening the door so he would not see the disaster it was, I decided that was the last straw. I knew I had my new mission. So I did the first thing I always do when I have a new project idea. I went shopping!

  
It's not that exciting; I went to the Dollar Store. I bought a few things to help me with my disastrous cabinet situation. In my opinion everything looks more organized in a container. Seriously, put things a in a box and presto! Organized. Even if you just have a few bottles, try putting them on a tray, you will be amazed at the difference. Here were my finds at the Dollar Store. (In fact, I didn't end up using them all, but still at a dollar each, they were pretty cheap.


 

   

    One of the first things I noticed about my wreck of a cabinet was that I had a lot of bags, like makeup bags for traveling. I wanted some way to store them without using up precious floor space. I had these great hooks left over from another project so I took a drill and a hammer and attached them to the cabinet doors. Perfection! Also, one could use 3M hooks if you are worried about leaving holes. It frees up a ton of space. I hung up another bag off screws poking through from the toilet paper holder! Ha, I did not even have to attach a hook for that. 

   
     I organized the boxes by items, so I have the pail that holds all my first aid supplies. It has band aids, witch hazel, benzoyl peroxide, rubbing alcohol and calamine lotion. There is the big pink box that holds all my items I have extras of, like shampoo and face wash from past purchases. I have another basket that holds a bunch of guest toiletries and mini things for when I travel. Behind that there is a bag that I always keep ready with all my travel toiletries. It's one of the best things I've done, this way I can be ready on a moments notice to take a trip somewhere and I don't have to scramble wondering if I remembered to pack a toothbrush or shampoo. 

 

    Another good tip is to use a locker shelf to add more space to your cabinet, I store my seldom used (sadly) curlers beneath them. For me, I am quite lazy thus I have to keep the things I use most often in easy to reach and put back locations otherwise I will never put them in the right spot. 

 
Do you have any tips on organizing your bathroom sink cabinets?

50 Dollar Fix: Side bookshelf

 

       As you can see, the area next to my couch is nothing pretty to look at. I am an avid book collector, and have several funny reads I like to keep in the living room. But, I was running out of room for them, and my cookbooks were crowding the kitchen. Plus it did not have a good transition from the breakfast nook to the living room. So with the help of several Michael's coupons, I managed to come up with hopefully a good shelving system that looks pretty good in my opinion. I still need some better ideas as how to organize or if I should remove some of the objects. Anyways, I just used 4 wooden crates from Michael's at $9.99 each (minus 40% off each ) plus one small crate at under $5. One can of black gloss spray paint and the project still came in way under 50 dollars. In fact, only 35 dollars. Here's a few photos, directions seem pointless. 

Materials:

Spray Paint

4 large Crates

1 small crate

Pretty Pretty Organizers

    
     I hate wasting things, and after everyone it seemed got sick this past month, I've gone through tons of tissue boxes. Luckily, Lily had just the idea of how to reuse them. With a few modifications, these boxes can now hold all sorts of things from pens and pencils to nail kits holding the files, polish removers and more. Plus they are super cute to make and look adorable all lined up.

Materials:

Empty Tissue Box

Exacto Knife

Modpodge

Scrapbook paper or decorative paper

Embellishments (Ribbons, glitter, stickers, etc)

Directions:

1. Using knife, carefully cut off the top of the tissue box (the part where the tissues used to come out) and try to make it a good even cut.
   
2. Take the paper and cut it to cover all four sides (make the height one inch more than needed). Then simply use modpodge to glue it down, leaving a half inch overhang on the top and bottom. (for a stronger box, once dry use another layer of modpodge on top)
   
3. Fold bottom of paper and secure the top section with modpodge.
   
4. Embellish it as you like. 

Good Luck!

50 dollar fix: Kitchen Hallway

      My breakfast nook is small. My kitchen is tiny. I like cooking stuff, thus I have an organizational nightmare trying to get all my dishes and stuff to fit without it looking like a hodgepodge mess. I needed something to hold extra bowls, cups and a few odds and ends. Plus I needed some way to spruce the place without painting.

    
     First I found this DVD case, which sleek black shape worked perfectly in the narrow space. It's just deep enough to hold bowls but shallow enough that it doesn't impede the walkway. The shelves adjust so that I could have more room on the bottom to place taller things. The doors keep it looking neat and clean even when I am in a rush to clean for company and just shove things in there.

    
       Second thing is this vintage English World War Two propaganda poster in a vibrant pink color. I could have ordered it online and paid a fortune for it. Instead, I found the image online and took it to my local print shop. They were able to print it out on glossy poster paper (about 18 by 24) for fewer than 20 dollars. Next, I went to Target and picked up a poster frame for about 5 dollars (it was on sale).

Voila! Another 50 dollar fix!

Hung up on Purses

     I have been known to drop some good money on a fabulous purse but I have always had the problem of trying to figure out how to store them. I simply don't have the shelving space for them, and I am far too lazy to put them in cute boxes that are labeled. So I came up with this simple solution: Picture Frame Holders.

    I took two of the kinds you nail to the wall and spray painted them gold to match my room. Nailed them to the wall and VOILA! PRESTO! Hung my purses on the shelving part and I was finished, my favorite part it I can also store my sunhats too.

 

     It's super easy to grab a different purse now and switch bags and I did it behind my door so that I don't take up too much valuable space for other things. If I had the space, I would have done more of the frame holders so that I could have fewer purses on each one and really display and pretty the holders are but perhaps in my next place.